The Grant A ttacked
The beleaguered College Grant, beset by bureaucrats eyeing it as an avenue for power transmission lines from the proposed Lincoln/Dickey dams in Maine, is now beset by another dangerous pest — the spruce budworm. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report said that 110,000 acres of New Hampshire woodlands have been damaged by the infestation.
Al Merrill, director of outdoor affairs, acknowledged that timber in the Grant is threatened by the attack but pointed out that most of the infected trees are in the Hellgate area, just north of the College's property. "We flew over the area in a helicopter and could see the damage," he said. "It's not so bad when you get down to Merrill Brook, but you can find it as far as Alder Brook. Maybe ten per cent of our trees are affected."
Insecticide applications are being considered by state officials, but Merrill questioned the effectiveness of spraying and doubted that the necessary money would be available. "Anytime you use a chemical," he added, "there's an environmental trade-off."
"We'll have to wait and see what this winter does," he observed. "Sometimes severe weather will curtail or prevent a spread. Otherwise, the timber will probably be salvaged. My guess is that Seven Islands, our timber management company, will want to change our cutting cycle and get out the affected fir, which gets hit by budworm before the spruce. But another problem is that those fir and spruce stands are in deer yards we're trying to protect."
Budworm epidemics seem to occur in cycles coinciding with the maturation of fir and spruce stands. After the severe 1918-1919 attack, which threatened the Grant's entire timber crop, the Trustees contracted for all the softwood on 27,000-acre tract to be cut rather than lose it to disease.
The good news, Merrill said, is that a government representative informed the College that although a final decision has not been made, the power lines probably will not go through the Grant. President Kemeny and the Trustees sent strong statements to the Department of the Interior, Merrill noted, "and it seems as though that's having some effect."
